


Rose Quartz and Other Mysteries

by tanarill



Category: Tin Man (2007)
Genre: Blushing, Character Development, Crystals, Developing Relationship, Explosions, Friendship, Joyful, M/M, Machines, Misery, Misunderstandings, Rejection, Theft, Truth Serum, Wedding Rings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-04-05
Updated: 2008-04-05
Packaged: 2020-12-22 21:57:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21083732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tanarill/pseuds/tanarill
Summary: Glitch wasn't all there, but he was there where it mattered.





	Rose Quartz and Other Mysteries

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ElvenAvari](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElvenAvari/gifts).

Things had started going missing. At first nobody noticed because they weren't very _large_ items, and for the most part they weren't very wanted items either. But still. A roll of copper wiring; a cheese slicer; a towel; a whole case of milk bottles, but the milk had been carefully poured into a large bucket and left in the refrigeration unit; a pair of thick gardening gloves. No one really minded until the day that the queen's crown went missing, and then _everyone_ minded.

"We have to get it back before anyone notices it's gone," said Azkadellia. "Mother, you can wear other crowns, but not for too long. Cain - "

"I know."

"Good luck," said DG.

***

Cain was no closer to finding the answer four days later, which was Glitch day. He had learned about the other thefts. They had been so small that no one had reported them, but when he went asking, just about every section of the palace staff was missing something, but who would want what was, mostly, junk? He wished, put on his hat, and went to visit Glitch.

People tended to avoid Glitch's lab. It was built in a separate building in the palace gardens for a reason, after all, and the reason was: it exploded randomly. Although it had not exploded lately, which was in some ways more worrying. Cain hadn't been there long last week, since Glitch had inexplicably exploded things and hustled him out the door before he could get singed.

The first thing he noticed was that the clutter was gone, or rather, had been reconstructed into a . . . Device. That was the best and probably only way to describe it. "Glitch?" he called out, eying the Device suspiciously.

Glitch stepped out from behind a large copper tube, which looked almost like a boiler. He wasn't wearing a shirt, was covered in some kind of grease, and his hands were covered in heavy leather gardening gloves. His face broke into a smile. "Cain! Look, it's almost finished!"

Cain looked at the Device, which looked like the insides of an elevation tube all splayed out, and said, "Er, that's nice. What is it?"

"It's my veritability-ensuring biorhythmic-detecting signaling-device," said Glitch proudly. "VEBDS for short. When it's on, it makes you tell the truth."

"I . . . see." What Cain saw were large arrays of copper and glass tubes and arcane machinery. He recognized some of it, like a small electricity generator perched on a tube, and the light it powered. The polished bass mirrors and prisms, including one that refracted through the missing crown. Other things, like the reason why Glitch had felt it necessary to add a coffee pot to the assembly, made no sense at all. "Glitch, is that the _crown_?" he asked, knowing it was.

"Yes, it's got the most perfect rose quartz," said Glitch, toweling himself off. "Cain, are you okay? You look a bit red - "

"The entire palace has been in an uproar because we thought someone had stolen it! And you had it here the entire time?!"

"Oops?" smiled Glitch sheepishly. "But look, I've got it working now."

"And you didn't think to _ask_?"

"Cain-"

"Glitch, you have got to be the most absent-minded, infuriating headcase in the OZ!"

There was silence for a moment, and then Glitch reached up and pulled the crown out of the delicate mess of copper wires holding it. "Here. Don't bother coming back."

***

Most of the missing items, or replacements, came back after that. Cain had explained that it was Glitch, and the queen had forgiven the zipperhead. He went back to being the Captain of the Tin Men. Life returned to a semblance of normal, and then DG came and sat down next to him. "He's miserable, you know," she said, without preamble.

Cain snorted.

"I mean, really. He goes to the trouble of building you a lie detector, and you go throw it in his face!"

Cain blinked. "What?"

"Go _talk_ to him."

Cain went.

***

The Device had changed shape, gotten more compact and more complete-looking. Also, the copper wires now held a perfect amethyst and a whole bevy of blue-tinted glass plates. "Hold on," said Glitch from somewhere, and then came out to see who it was. He was slick with sweat-Cain could feel the heat of the Device from the door-and for the moment before he caught sight of Cain alive with joy. The he said, "Go away, Cain."

"No," said Cain.

"_Please_ go away?"

Cain ignored him. "DG said you made it for me?"

Glitch blushed. "Well, um, I thought it would be useful. To the Tin Men. If you could tell if someone were lying."

Cain nodded. "It would. But why build it?"

Glitch looked for a moment like he didn't want to answer, and then he said, "I thought if I made you something you might stop hating me-"

"I don't hate you," interrupted Cain. "Why would you think that?"

"You called me the most annoying headcase in the OZ! You don't care about me!"

"Yes I do!" retorted Cain.

"You don't love me!" shouted Glitch. "You don't even care that you took _my_ heart!" Then Glitch realized what he'd just said, and covered his mouth with both hands.

Cain stood up in the silence, walked over, and gently pushed Glitch's hands down. There were tears in his eyes, which were wide with fear. "It's a fair trade," said Cain roughly. "You took mine."

Then he kissed Glitch.

***

Things changed a little. People commented on how much nicer Cain was, and everyone learned to go straight to Glitch if something small went missing. Half an annual later, the finished Device made its appearance in Tin Man HQ, and a week later, Glitch was presented with a ring set with a tiny rose quartz and carved with the words _Mei animus_. Glitch smiled and kissed Cain and replied, "Mei spiritus."

**Author's Note:**

> More Tin Man. This was also written for ElvenAvari in 2008.
> 
> I am so tired of it being a holiday, you guys. SO TIRED. This weekend it is Shabbat on Saturday, the last day of Sukkot on Sunday, Sh'mini Azeret (the holiday that's on day #8) on Monday, and Simchat Torah (the one where we finish reading the Torah and then rewind to the beginning to start again) on Tuesday. Then we are done, and that is it until Channukah.


End file.
